


The Bonds of Life

by 1jiggypiggy1



Category: East Lynn Coal Company
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22438387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1jiggypiggy1/pseuds/1jiggypiggy1
Summary: Yesthis is an inside joke for a specific person





	The Bonds of Life

The founder of the East Lynn Coal Company, Albert J. Perry, was a famous man. With his good reputation and powerful position, he could get away with anything. Thievery, slander, and adultery were all in his array of wrong-doings, with the latter being his sin of choice. (Adultery is one of the most common betrayals in the two-thousands.) Albert had a child with Carilynn Mills, a renowned woman in East Lynn's painter's circle. Albert's wife, Ona, was ignorant to this for what seemed like centuries... 

The baby boy Albert had with Carilynn was forced to stay with his mother in East Lynn. When he reached the age of one, he was given the name James Perry. Carilynn tried desperately to be the mother her son deserved, but with her doomed painting career making an unexpected rise, she knew she couldn't abandon it for a more stable form of income. Her one and only passion was painting. She had struggled to find inspiration since her time with Albert, but then James became her sole muse. Through her art she illustrated his entire upbringing. Without selling any of them she managed to keep her family running. The paintings were too precious to her, as they were the only way she could record their life together. She was born blind. She painted by touch, she felt then saw what she wanted to paint and let it flow through her and onto the canvas. As time passed she feared her child would miss out on the usual opportunities of a young man. She told him to set out and explore the world, to get away from their hum-drum life of their hometown. 

He went out to East Lynn, a town that has been thriving with job opportunities in the coal industry. He had hoped to avoid harsh work, as his mother enjoyed painting his fresh skin and soft features, but he had no other choice. He got a job working alongside Wayne Neal, and soon rose to be his right hand man. They bonded over their common interests of liquor and gambling. He was earning a decent amount of money and soon sought after a family of his own, after receiving a letter from his mother asking if he had found a girl yet. James was walking to work one day when he came across the most magnificent girl. She completely astounded him, her charm and elegance captivated him. James immediately took a detour from his usual commute to the mines to chat with her. Not long after their talk, they had made arrangements to meet after he got off work. They were to meet on the outside of the bed overlooking the creek. The whole day he was in the mines, she was on his mind; through the monotonous swings of a pick axe and the continuous scrapes of skin against rock, she was burning herself into him as the smoke from his headlamp burnt his strained eyes. When the work day ended he discovered he had sustained an eye injury, cutting his left cornea. This was not his first job related injury, as the mines were a dangerous place to work. In his first year he stumbled and fell, causing him to walk with a limp. This bothered him more than it should have and made him feel insecure. He wasn't sure if his mother could still paint him, or even if she would still want to.

The woman he recently met, Delaine, didn't seem to care. She made him feel like he was still that fresh faced boy his other loved so dearly. He was one of the first ones out of the mines, usually being on of the last, he first had to take it up with his crew. He arrived at the appointed place, and was not surprised to see her waiting patiently, twiddling her thumbs, while humming a soft tune. She confronted him about his eye injury, and she took home to tend to it further than they had at the mines. She has learned the trade by watching her father in her youth.Since they had left the meeting point, the date resumed at her house. During the date they discussed their individual families which was a whole slew of fun and decided they wanted to meet again, and they did. Over the next couple of months, they met at least once a day. They discussed multiple things during these meet ups.Some of which were trivial, childish things, but most were plans for the future. By the end of the year a child was born. 

The child was given the name,, Robert Perry Smith. They couldn't decide which last name suited him better so they chose both. He had a pleasant childhood, living with his semi-affluent family, which was becoming slowly unhealthy by the day.The family grew famous among the townsfolk, which eventually led Robert to be swayed by the young ladies. Delaine was very possessive over her buy, and usually kept him within arms reach.This was however contradictory to what she wanted to do as a mother. Her possessiveness led to a more intimate feeling when she was around her son. James knew not of her feelings towards their son, but would surely from upon it. This escalated as the years wet by. Which led to some seriously incestuous action that the boy reluctantly received. 1921 bared its fangs and caused itself to be referred to as the year of misfortune and misery within the family. James was 60, Delaine was 55, and Robert was 39. Just as the years was starting, Robert went to work at the Katona Coal Company and once he arrived met a rather interesting fellow by the name of Samuel W. Perry. It all started when Robert went in to ask for work. When Robert first arrived, he was just like any other lad, tall, broad shouldered and built like an ox but with the facial features of a woman and the tone of voice of a soft spoken little girl. He asked Samuel if they had any openings for a new worker, naturally Samuel said they did and Robert got a job. Samuel then asked who his parents were. He replied honestly respecting his new boss and Samuel choked up.

When Robert spat out his mother's name he immediately got flashbacks to the terrible times of his youth. His eyes grew wide and his his throat caught up with a wad of spit. Samuel was just as shaken up about this as he was, but maybe that was because of his father's famous name? Just as Robert was going to shrug it off, Samuel brought up and interesting topic. Delaine had an affair with him, Samuel, when he was 19, he claimed it was not entirely his fault ad that he was seduced by the older woman then cast away, in fear of James finding out. He also gave insight as to what happened with James's dad. His name was Albert J. Perry, his daughter's name was Kate, his son was Samuel himself, and Albert's wife was named Ona. She knew not of this affair due to the fact it didn't happen around her abode nor did anyone else notice, aside from Samuel, who was suspicious of his dad right from the start of his suspicious behavior. Not only did James's dad have an affair with his mom she naturally had a child, and he threw them both out like spoiled children. Robert brought up the fact that it seemed to have been between their families and specifically theirs alone. What kind of allure did the other family have on his own?

They went on about this and and Robert took it up with his mom after work had ended. He came off in a belittling way but didn't care too much for his tone, nor his mother. "Family is supposed to be a symbol of the time." that's what his grandmother said. Yet his family had other plans. She beat him and told him to stay out of her business and just like that James heard everything, he heard that his own relationship was a lie and that his father was a lie. What's worse is Delaine's affair with his half-brother , Samuel. James's trust in Delaine was shattered and he left the now single mother and middle aged son behind as he flowed out of their sight. Robert understood his actions perfectly and knew they would be in touch again, but he was positive this was the last time he would be speaking to his mother. Robert knew this family was dead. He knew it was all over for them. Robert left his mother and went to find his father. He found him face down in a ditch covered with dirt.Before he left the house, his mother told him of a disease that James had that was rapidly getting worse. This might have seemed caring if it wasn't for her terrible smirk. I guess this was it. It was done. Their house had fallen. Their family is dead. He has no where to look but forward. That's what James would have wanted. This is what one gets when family isn't strong enough to have hope and parents do not have life long bonds. He wasn't going to let his own life be killed by the involvement in their's, his family, his life, his future was going to be molded by him, influenced by the tragedy that had befallen him. He was going to have hope, he was going to have a titanium laced bond.


End file.
